Adding to a recipe for success

Annual Taste of Wheaton expands with wine, new flavors and a celebrity chef

Carla Hall, the owner of Alchemy Caterers at 11307 Elkin St. in Wheaton and star of Bravo's "Top Chef: New York" reality competition show, will be cooking up a French dish at the Ethnic Food and Wine Pavilion at this year's Taste of Wheaton. The event will be held Sunday in downtown Wheaton.

In addition to the endless plates of cheap eats and ethnic cuisine, this year's Taste of Wheaton festival will pour in local wines, take a culinary trip around the world and even add a dash of star power to the popular event.

The 14th annual Taste of Wheaton, to be held 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at Grandview Avenue and Reedie Drive in downtown Wheaton, will still have dozens of booths featuring food by local restaurants. But new this year is an Ethnic Food and Wine Tasting Pavilion, which will feature three tasting tables from different regions of the world: Latin America, Asia and Europe.

GiraMondo Wine Adventures, a local wine event company that hosts public and private wine-tasting classes, will pair wines it purchases from the county Department of Liquor Control with the various meals.

For $15, diners age 21 and older with a valid ID can move from booth to booth trying out the different meals and drinks — each booth an international "flight" across the world, said Hailey Morton, the events and marketing associate at GiraMondo.

"It's a nice addition to spice up the Taste of Wheaton," Morton said.

One of the highlights at the European tasting table will be Carla Hall, Bravo's "Top Chef: New York" finalist and owner of Alchemy Caterers, at 11307 Elkin St. in Wheaton. Hall, a Washington, D.C. resident, excited foodies across the nation this year by nearly winning this year's "Top Chef" title.

Hall, who said she's "constantly creating dishes and writing recipes," will serve up a French dish of lamb confit on a brioche round with a flageolet puree and shallots.

"It's very Frenchy," she said. Hall added her food will be a nice balance to the Hispanic and Asian food for which Wheaton is known.

While she's attended many Tastes of Wheaton, this will be the first one in which she's participated.

Getting GiraMondo and Hall to put a new twist on Wheaton's favorite festival made sense, said Sidney Cooper, the Taste of Wheaton organizer and marketing and events manager for the Wheaton Urban District.

People can find out what affordable local wines they can order at a wide array of restaurants in Wheaton. And Wheaton can show off its most recent culinary star, Cooper said.

"Wheaton has bragging rights," she said. "It was a perfect fit."

Hall said she agreed.

"It was a no-brainer," she said.

The pavilion also will feature dishes from Nava Thai, the Thai restaurant that has been lighting up food blogs since it re-opened at its new location at 11301 Fern St. Others will include Max's Kosher Cafe, Christina's Italian Ristorante, and Los Chorros Restaurant.

Dozens of other cuisines will be featured in booths outside the pavilion. For more than a decade, the Taste of Wheaton has packed booths brimming with delicious cuisine from a variety of Wheaton restaurants. Each booth traditionally provides "tastes" for $1.

This year, tastes will range from $1 to $5 in an effort to support the restaurants that have been hit hard by the wavering economy, Cooper said, adding that she wanted to encourage restaurants to continue participating in the event, knowing that many owners have to pay employees to staff booths at the Taste of Wheaton and to keep the restaurant open for regular patrons.

If festival-goers like what they're eating, they can easily locate it with a hot-off-the-presses Buy Local Guide, an official guide of more than 50 local restaurants, groceries and bakeries, retail and professional and personal services that will be unveiled at the Taste of Wheaton.

Produced by Local First Wheaton, a business alliance of Wheaton businesses and nonprofits, the free guide will be available in businesses and county facilities after the festival.

And delicious food and entertainment tend to go hand in hand, so this year's festival will have a range of local music and dance.

Families can enjoy Washington Area Music Association winners Billy Coulter Band and the Rumba Club and dance along with Urban Artistry—a nonprofit dance and music group that Cooper said was a smash hit at the World of Montgomery event in November. Other performers include the Wheaton Studio of Dance, LC Dreamers and SNAP!, a group of 12-year-old girls who play classic rock.

More kids' attractions include rides and the popular video game Rock Band.

Despite all the new events this year, Cooper said the heart of Taste of Wheaton has not changed.

"It's still the cheapest taste in town," she said.

The 14th annual Taste of Wheaton will be held 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at Grandview Avenue and Reedie Drive in downtown Wheaton.

For more information, visit www.wheatonmd.org. To buy tickets for the Ethnic Food and Wine Tasting Pavilion, visit www.giramondowine.com. Some tickets will be available the day of, but spaces are limited.